Ellen Hodakova Larsson wins the LVMH prize for young designers

The news just came in: young designer Ellen Hodakova Larsson has received the LVMH Prize for Young Designers from Natalie Portman at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. A VIP member of a prestigious jury, composed of Robert Pattinson, Ana De Armas, and top fashion figures like Jonathan Anderson, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquière, Marc Jacobs, Kim Jones, Stella McCartney, Nigo, Phoebe Philo, Silvia Venturini Fendi, Pharrell, Delphine Arnault, Jean-Paul Claverie, and Sidney Toledano. The Swedish winner has outperformed over 2500 candidates, earning the first prize of €400,000, along with a year of mentoring by experts from luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Alongside her, Duran Lantink received the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize, while Standing Ground won the first Savoir-Faire prize, a new addition in this 2024 edition.

The young winner from Stockholm founded her eponymous brand in 2021, with the goal of creating the first 100% sustainable fashion house. Her mission goes beyond producing eco-friendly garments; she aims to change how people perceive fashion by offering pieces created from already existing products. She gives a second life to the most ordinary objects from everyday life, like belts or silver spoons, transforming them with scissors and needles into lavish dresses and accessories, in a simple yet luxurious approach to upcycling. Her fashion defies fast consumption, seeking to create a strong bond between the item and its owner, thus fostering a more sentimental value and a reconsidered, reduced way of consumption. For Ellen Hadakova, quality prevails over quantity; craftsmanship and excellence are key, and creativity rhymes with sustainability.

The LVMH Prize initiative was launched by luxury giant LVMH in 2013, aiming to provide concrete support for emerging young designers eager to make a name for themselves in the fashion world. Indeed, winners receive not only a substantial sum of money but also the opportunity to be mentored by industry experts, which is crucial for the commercial success of their brands. The 7 other finalists who competed alongside Hadakova were mainly European, with Duran Lantink, grand winner of the Karl Lagerfeld prize, as well as Niccolò Pasqualetti, who had already participated in a previous edition of the contest, Belgian Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, French Pauline Dujancourt, English Paolo Carzana, and Irish Michael Stewart (Standing Ground). Only one American was among the finalists: Julian Louie from California. This marks the conclusion of the 11th edition of the LVMH Prize, which proved once again to be a success. Let's see what the future holds for the young winner and what surprises the group has in store for the next episode.